Our selection of royalty-free cinematic music with an emphasis on tension, danger, nerve, and a sense of unease. Sometimes more subtle and sneaky music, other times more overt threatening music and soundtracks for critical situations, this music is made for action thrillers, police operations, stakeouts, spy / undercover agents, dangerous missions, hurricane-chasing and more.
Orchestral action piece with huge brass and drums implying suspense and building tension. Think espionage-laden chase. [Tempo: Slow, Fast / 90 BPM]
Ominous and tense. Orchestra, drums and haunting textures build suspense throughout. [Tempo: Medium / 156 BPM]
Dark, ominous and foreboding, semi-orchestral film soundtrack. Mysterious, ominous and threatening, but always restrained and sneaky, this is a great underscore for adventure, mystery, journey, fantasy RPG etc. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
Intense drama themed piece that uses driving percussion and urgent strings to full effect. It relentlessly builds to a dramatic conclusion.
[Tempo: Medium, Fast / 130 BPM]Action, dramatic and epic track made with percussion, orchestra and more. Great for creating tension and a dramatic atmosphere in your project. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 70 BPM]
Inspired by film maker and composer John Carpenter, this is a homage to his masterpiece The Thing, starring Kurt Russell. Ominous blend of synthesizers and orchestral horns, with a repetitive tense motif. [Tempo: Slow / 93 BPM]
A dark and broody hybrid track mixing electronic and orchestral elements. Creates a feeling of tension, darkness and terror. Good for a trailer, drama, crime in progress etc. [Tempo: Medium / 105 BPM]
A somewhat dark and mystical, edgy, cinematic trailer type track. Fluttering and deliberately "broken", this track has the sense of something uneasy, unstable, simmering just beneath the surface. Think demon worship, the occult. The track changes from mystical / foreboding passages to more aggressive, staccato, percussive parts, with sudden stops and starts that can be used as edit points. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 84 BPM]
Quiz show, tension music bed, building up to the name of the winner being announced. The style is reminiscent of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' quiz show or 'The Weakest Link'. Tension building underscore, perfect for revealing who the winner is or whether that cash winning answer is correct. [Tempo: Medium / 112 BPM]
A tense and uneasy soundtrack cue for a dangerous situation. Dark, ominous, threatening, foreboding. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 80 BPM]
A pensive, pulsating and tense track for action & adventure. Orchestral with synth elements, a dark edge, but also somewhat restrained and brooding. [Tempo: Medium / 93 BPM]
A mixture of electronic synths, percussion and strings are used to generate a sense of risk. The constant pulse throughout adds to the anxiety, making this ideal for game shows with elimination rounds. [Tempo: Slow / 63 BPM]
Tense, building free jazz underscore. Pulsing,hypnotic,and intense low-tempo track,with atmospheric synth sounds and a slow build up. It brings to mind a sense of danger and anticipation. Nice for productions that require a dense, dark and a bit scary backdrop, such as features and TV shows. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 130 BPM]
Prepare to enter battle with this tense, epic, cinematic track. Starting with percussion and gradually building with brass, strings, snare drum and even some war cries. Good for movies, video games and tv dramas ranging from ancient times through to futuristic Star Wars type battle scenes. [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 70 BPM]
Dark, evil, wicked, sinister, unnerving, cinematic, haunting, disturbed soundtrack to impending danger. Scary, edgy, bleak, ominous, doomy soundscape for use in horror / halloween / space / crime / murder type projects. [Tempo: Slow / 100 BPM]
A dark and powerful Action / Suspense / Thriller soundtrack that changes between "suspicion" and "battle" sequences. Alternating between suspense / pensive tones and all-out action music with powerful, urgent percussion and orchestra. Can be edited to fit the timing of your production. Use for spy thriller, military operation, action game / film etc. [Tempo: Slow, Fast, Very fast / 80 BPM]
A suspenseful, tense theme. Orchestral hybrid that features a simple haunting cello solo. The piece grows over time and incorporates an ethereal piano and high whispered strings. Fitting for a modern suspense thriller or horror movie. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 70 BPM]
Dark ambient, Horror underscore. Dizzy / Sickly / Uneasy. Rhythmic pulse. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 65 BPM]
An orchestral piece written for action and adventure sequences. It is full of drama, suspense, powerful drum hits, stabs, and melodic lines.
[Tempo: Medium, Fast / 130 BPM]Dramatic, hypnotic & edgy electro-rock track with great nervous tension and forward momentum. Would suit medical / spy / mystery / thriller type drama projects. [Tempo: Medium / 97 BPM]
An epic orchestral track, great for scenes of a grand adventure, action, new discoveries, a fantasy world, an epic journey. It has a dramatic, awe-inspiring feel with a heroic and cinematic sound. [Tempo: Medium / 120 BPM]
A pulsing synthesizer sets the tone for a dark atmosphere in the beginning. Drums with a hint of bit-crushed distortion build up and then quiet down before a massive drop. The main drop hits with a huge impact of drums and low bass. Layered in electronic melody gives the track a modern and edgy feel, but keeps a serious tone. Resembles "Tron Legacy" soundtrack. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 70 BPM]
A rhythmic, dark, orchestral track of amazement and tension. Similar to the style/sound of Hans Zimmer music, this cinematic piece has a strong sense of nerve and drama.
[Tempo: Medium / 100 BPM]Low, propulsive deep bass. Gradually building an atmosphere of horror, dystopia, uncertainty, and fear. Suitable for horror movies, thrillers, crime and criminal investigation, sci-fi and mystery, spies, undercover agents, danger and tension.(Stem files available.) [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 100 BPM]
Creepy orchestration suggests an approaching evil menace or a supernatural event. Steeped in suspense, this dark, sinister piece builds towards a horrific & sudden conclusion. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
A high-intensity, cinematic action track. Battle, chase, urgent situation, hunt. Big horns and staccato strings, with pounding orchestral drums and ominous chords. Dramatic / Fight / Marching / Escape / Chaos / War. [Tempo: Fast / 133 BPM]
Brooding and ominous, this dark tension & horror track grows from a quiet drone and builds to an intense atonal conclusion. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast, Very fast / 0 BPM]
Dramatic and Escalating Cinematic Action track featuring orchestral strings, percussion, synth pads and sound effects. Great for trailers, films in action and drama genres, Police / Investigation TV series and more. [Tempo: Medium / 90 BPM]
A dark, dramatic and war like music track, made with big epic classical orchestra. World War theme. All parts connected, same mood. Army March with variations. Doom laden music. [Tempo: Medium / 120 BPM]
Electronica, experimental, underscore. Haunting, Techno, Science / electronics. [Tempo: Fast / 144 BPM]
A short track that tells of darkness and sadness. [Tempo: Medium / 90 BPM]
A hybrid orchestral track with special effects, big pounding percussion, orchestra and choir. Rousing, aggressive, and majestic. Dark / Ominous / Tense. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 63 BPM]
A twisted and dark piece. Strange electronic murmurs and blips introduce a dramatic tremeloed string section. As the track progresses more layers of string harmonies enter adding to the growing suspense. Slowly the piece unfolds and builds towards the tense end .The mood has an element of cold calculated ruthlessness and unfolding mystery. Contains orchestra , synths and piano. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
A powerful, ominous, epic royalty free music track featuring a pulsating clock, suspense ambience, and uprising force of the orchestra and large mixed choir. Suitable as music for epic and battle scenes. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 80 BPM]
A big epic and dynamic edgy action music for movie trailers, or dramatic action films. Hard hitting orchestral lines fuse with modern digital technology in a great piece of Hybrid powerful action music! [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 148 BPM]
A Percussion Only track, with big pounding drums in various more and less intense patterns. Useful for sound design, film scoring, games and more. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 150 BPM]
A brooding sense of danger that builds to a climax. Heavy brass are aided by stabbing strings and thumping percussion which is great to use as trek music with big landscape shots, in which the bad guys are after the good guys. [Tempo: Medium / 89 BPM]
An energetic orchestral track with driving drums, percussion, and synths, for a thriller, reality show, or action or horror film. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 138 BPM]
A melody of spacious strings & soprano voice quickly descend into darkness & mystery. Fantasy, sci-fi, adventure. Perhaps magic or mysterious intrigues. Amazement, wonderment. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
Dark and ominously hybrid tension music with electronica elements, pulsating rhythm, deep, impactful taiko percussion, and ambient pads. Suitable for suspenseful film scenes, thriller documentaries, and crime investigation podcasts. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 100 BPM]
Begins with fast paced electro/rock underscore. Distorted guitars and sounds design are prevalent throughout. At mid-point, the entire orchestra joins in with a trailer-esque choir which builds to a final crescendo with brass stabs for impact. [Tempo: Fast / 150 BPM]
Ominous and tense, semi-orchestral action or sci-fi track. Danger or evil forces. Also suitable as music for TV Reality Drama, crime, accidents, fire or other extreme danger. [Tempo: Slow, Fast / 125 BPM]
Electronica infused orchestral music. Tension build throughout the piece, ending with a big boom, but retaining a somewhat anticipative aura. Good for war preparation, rendezvous scenes and crime investigation and chase. [Tempo: Medium / 120 BPM]
A very dark and edgy track with a slow, pounding rhythm and a raw, destroyed sound. Available with, or without, the tribal shout vocals. Primal and futuristic at the same time, this track would go well with an ominous Sci-fi or Fantasy production. The version with the vocals has a more Savage / Barbarian feel, and the version without the vocals has a more Sci-fi / Metallic / Apocalyptic feel. [Tempo: Slow / 55 BPM]
Thrilling chase feel, orchestral with electronic elements and guitars. Powerful, dark, busy, fast, tense and cold with a slight industrial edge. [Tempo: Fast / 132 BPM]
Powerful and intense, this track is perfect for a ritualistic scene. Strings accompanied by hissing chanting chaotic choirs. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 90 BPM]
A dark, brooding underscore for mystery and tension. Sci-fi / Futuristic; can also be desert / wasteland, abandoned warehouse or other location. Doom laden, cold, desolate. Threatening / uneasy. There is also a "No Drums" version which works well as a dark ambient background track. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 90 BPM]
A dark and edgy piece with a sense of foreboding and ominous forces. A pulsating deep rhythm with strings, brass and occasional gothic choir chants, like from an occult séance or a dark ritual. Mystical / Tense / Occult / Horror / Creepy / Gritty / Shocking. [Tempo: Slow / 90 BPM]
A suspenseful and intense cue which creates an ominous, threatening and foreboding feeling. Distorted guitars, piano and electronic elements all come together to create a tense and apocalyptic sound. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 120 BPM]
Suitable for modern thrillers, this track features atmospheric and tense layers, orchestra, drums and synth. The tension mounts, with the drama intensifying towards the climactic ending. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 84 BPM]
